The desire for perimeter weighting in a golf club iron is well known in the art. This desire stems from the fact that as the mass of the iron is distributed towards the perimeter, the trajectory of the hit ball becomes more consistent for off-center hits away from the sweet spot of the golf club face or hitting surface. Consequently, many modern golf club irons have a “cavity back” design. These clubs are made by removing the weight from the center of the club head and redistributing it along the bottom, the top, the heel and toe portions of the club head. Club heads of the latter type have enjoyed considerable success since they effectively enlarge the “sweet spot” of the club head.
The “sweet spot” of the club head is generally regarded to be that area on the striking face of the club head immediately surrounding the center of gravity of the club head. By enlarging the sweet spot, perimeter weighted club heads allow golfers of all abilities to realize improved results over conventional club heads when the golfer fails to strike the golf ball in line with the center of gravity of the club head. These improved results translate into “mis-hit” shots that travel farther and straighter than they would if struck with a club having another conventional club head design. The weight saved by creating a rear cavity in the iron, is re-distributed to the perimeter of the golf club head. The greater the volume of the cavity, the larger the mass of metal that can be redistributed into the perimeter of the golf club head. However, if the thickness of the face hitting surface is reduced to an extent where it becomes too thin, the strength of the face becomes too low to resist the force of the ball hitting the face. Thus, it would be desirable to find a way to further increase the volume of the cavity without causing the face to fail upon impact with the ball.
As discussed, it is desirable to provide a means for creating a thin faced club head having a high COR for increased distance in each iron of a set of golf club irons, or at least the longer irons. However, a limiting parameter is when the thickness of the face becomes too thin, it adversely effects the strength of the face. The well-known cure is to support the face with a low-density insert, preferably one placed into a rear cavity opening. The present invention utilizes a rear insert to provide strength for the front face and reinforce the face during impact. The present invention provides a solution for providing stiffness to a frame that has had weight removed from the peripheral.